Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-10
9ai11 u eagle
/ THE EFFECTS OF COCA.
THAT STRANGE PRODUCT OF THE
FORESTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Interesting Report from San Salvador.
I Peculiarities of Chewing Coca-Hygi.
/, enic Properties as Described by a
Spanish Physician.
( Consul Du Pre- transmits from San Sal
Nador an interesting report upon the use
of coca in that country and IFS effects
upon the inhabitants. He says:
81 have seen SO much recently written
Of coca in newspapers and in lnca cal pub
1ications that lam impelled to X. crt what
I have learned of the virtues CT his prod
uct Of South American fore.ts. With
1eathern straps passing around their fore
heads to sustain burdens Of 100 or 200
pounds on their backs, find these 1.-the,
slender natives traversing rl,ins and
mountains with greater celebrity than the
mule L bestride, which travels the live
dong day six miles an hour. Native ply
sicians and those of the schools CT Paris,
France, concur in assuring me that this
extraordinary capacity for endurance of
toll and hunger is to be ascriLed to the
use by these yiageroS of coca. Recently
the medical profession in all countries has
been induced to study the strange and
unique properties and effects Of coca. A
peculiar force, producing nervous insensi-
bility, distinguishes coca when used as an
all1aloid.
cit is administered freely to infants,
and is the chief intoXicant Of men and
women. Youths through many days are
Entrusted with the care Of valuable lockS
of llamas, having no other sCStenance
than that to be found in little leathern
purses containing coca and its compounds.
Indians chew it constantly. Theirs, like
the maXillary movements of tobacco
chewers, are inceSSant. From thirty to
fifty grains are consumed daily, serving,
unlike tobacco, both as food ard stimu-
LIANT Without coca habitual chewerS
cannot digest food; without it they are
unable to ascend mountains with long,
rapid strides the livelong day. They will
not toll without it; without it they enjoy
nothing; without it, practically, they cease
to live.
EFFECT OF CHEWING COCA.
s'The immediate effect of chewing coca
Is perfect insensibility of the interior of
the mouth. The immediate sensat on is
that which one would experience when
finding that his mouth lad become great
void in somebody else's head. ! had
dentist apply it when extracting I, roots
of molar tooth, and the effect was as
described. Indians constantly u ng coca
finally lose the senses of taste a. smell.
They can eat without repugna.,e most
disgusting food and drink most L Gseating
tlraughts. The sensitiveness OF the mu-
cous membrane has been destroyed.
When one goes further and swallows the
saliva impregnated with the juice Of the
coca leaf a delicious sensation CT warmth
and Of perfect blessedness entirely pcrvade
ones whole being, intellectual nervous
and physical, and he is Tapped IL the joys
of an elySium. In doses of fifteen 10 sixty
grains coca produces delightful iatoXica-
ton.
cts joys transcend in perfcc: blessed
ness all known human delights. : SenSa-
ton Of lghtness first supervencs; the air
inhaled is Zephyrs from argI..' wings;
there are wild imaginings and { Elastic
Authorizations and gorgeous = -, and
then complete insensibitity. 1t intoxi-
cation without drOwsineSS, W.T. &c con-
gestion of the BRAIN involving = cnse Of
perfect rest. The law of gray ;tion is
suspended and the coquero drif, bodily
among the stars. Meanwhile L. Iluscu-
lar system is stimulated to an -,traordi-
nary degree; an intellectual c-citement
Supervencs, enabling the 'rc- csscd' of
this demon TO watch anS tod through
sleepless days and nights. No dreadful
headache or more intolerablc nervous
prostration follows.
MOST POTENT NERyINL
''It is the most potent nervino. almost,
at mans disposal Its hygienic proper
ties are disclosed from its ply illogical
properties says q Spanish u D, who
Il in inf, "a :,
5ul and hcalthful beverage one can use
after dining Especially is it commended
to the feeble, TO those who have tran
seconded limits of sobriety il using
alcohol Its virtues should be tested,
therefore, in inebriate asylums It surely
Gains nervous excitability of many, and.
taken in small quantities, enables one to
endure cold and rain and SNOW, and it
enables enc TO defy great fatigue and re-
stores the forces lost by eXcesscs. It is
populcrly used for indigestion. for dis
ordered sIomachs, for hySteria, liatulency
and collie, and ell forms of inte. tinrl dis
orders.
at is uscd constantly by toilers In
mines, end when one reaches the mines
after marching several days through
forests md over mountains, sustained
alone by the use of coca and / G;,;c, he is
permitted 10 Get ct discretion through
-four days and have perfect rest. Then he
is in perfect health and fresh end fat
says the writer above quoted. 'tocaismo'
-habitual intoXication by The :; Of coca
more easily becomes habitucl end in
durable than alcoholism or cdG ctiyeness
TO opiates. Its consequences, however,
are not yet wholly measured c. compre-
hended. Excessive and cOf...c-.. use Of
this intoxica3t begets rapidly, ,2C ii and
intellectual degradation and decay, steady
decline is interrupted at intervals by re-
sistless impulses to do most Vol mt and
brutal acts. The nature of the f. her, as
perverted by the drug, is Transmitted to
the IL. and the inveterate vice. operat-
ing through generations, is said to account
for the brutality of races of Indians, and
Quichas and Almaras of Bolivian fast
nesses. "-Washington Letter,